50th Anniverary of the LeMans winning Daytona Coupe

[Garry Bopp]

I was fortunate to be able to attend the panel discussion featuring crew members of the Daytona that won 1st place in the GT class and 4th overall in the 1964 LeMans 24 hour race. Co-driver Dan Gurney was not able to attend due to health reasons, but was featured in a recent video interview conducted by Bob and Pat Bondurant. BTW, Dan Gurney was clocked at 197 mph on the Mulsanne straight during the race.

I arrived at the Arizona Biltmore Saturday morning about 45 minutes before the panel discussion began so had a chance to visit with Peter and Gayle Brock for a while. The Daytona coupe and Ferrari in the pictures are the actual cars that finished in 1st and 2nd place in the GT class. Celebrity emcee, Bob Varsha, looked over at the two cars and said, "Well, that's about $40-$50 million dollars of automotive history there". Bob Bondurant was funny ... he stood behind the Ferrari and said, “I’ve never seen the rear of this car before ... it was always behind me”! The panel discussion was very interesting and all those guys displayed a great sense of humor. Swiss born mechanic, Jean Stucki, mentioned that he had been brought as part of the team because he was the only one that spoke French! He also quipped that Carroll Shelby could screw up a pit stop in 2 seconds ... always trying to tell them to do something other than planned and eventually the pit crew just ignored Shelby and did their assigned duties. Engine builder Jack Hoare was brought to Shelby by Ken Miles. Shelby asked Jack what he expected for pay. Hoare responded, "$4.00/ hour". Shelby said, "I don't pay anyone more than $2.50/hour". Hoare then said, "Well, I guess you can't afford me". Shelby gave in on 2 conditions: "1) If you don't produce results, you will be fired. and 2) If you tell anyone else how much I'm paying you, you will be fired!"

Saturday afternoon, I found myself with no plans so decided to drive down to Tucson, AZ to visit a friend that owns a Factory Five coupe that is very dear to me. The #98 coupe in the pics is one of the earliest coupes (# 7 out of 600+ Factory Five coupes) and was built by a longtime friend of mine, Ralph Littlefield. Ralph only had the chance to drive the car a few times as he came down with throat cancer. He fought the disease for several years before finally passing away several years ago. His widow, Debbie, sold the coupe to Dave Hall from Tucson. I had been emailing Dave for years and finally got my chance to meet him. He is a great guy and has made lots of improvements to the coupe. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and 70 degrees so a coupe ride was mandatory. After the ride, he turned the coupe over to me and it was a real thrill to drive Ralph’s beautiful # 98. A very sentimental time but fun, as well! I have # 98 on the rear panel of my coupe, in memory of Ralph.

Garry

[Garry Bopp]

[Fluge]

Thanks for sharing. Would have loved to be part of that.

Marc

[johngeorge]

Very nice writeup and thanks for the pics, all look amaizing

[Hankl]

Thanks Garry, great pictures and write up.

Hank

[EEP]

Garry, great write up and pictures. These details add even more colour into the allure of this intriguing legendary racing rivalry. Your personal story of Saturday afternoon is definitely heart felt.

Thank you for sharing both.

Larry

[EEP]

Garry,
Did they mention anything about if or when that print of the finish line may be available for purchase?

Larry

[Tom Mauldin]

Very cool!

[Garry Bopp]

Larry,

No, they didn't mention anything about prints being available. I do anticipate hearing from the Bondurant's as they took everyone's email address and said they would send pictures/videos of the event so hopefully there will be further info on the painting.

Garry

[WIS89]

Garry-

Great story, and I love Bob Bondurant's comments about the rear of the Ferrari! Classic type-A comment; really good stuff!

I really appreciated your story on # 98. Thank you for letting us in; very generous!

Regards,

Steve